ost1 kinase modulates freezing tolerance by enhancing...
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Article
OST1 Kinase Modulates Freezing Tolerance by
Enhancing ICE1 Stability in ArabidopsisGraphical Abstract
Highlights
d OST1 is a positive regulator in CBF-dependent cold signaling
d OST1 interacts with and phosphorylates the ICE1 protein
d OST1 interferes with the interaction between ICE1 and HOS1
d OST1 suppresses HOS1-mediated ICE1 degradation
Ding et al., 2015, Developmental Cell 32, 278–289February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2014.12.023
Authors
YanglinDing,Hui Li, ..., ZhizhongGong,
Shuhua Yang
In Brief
The ICE1 transcription factor integrates
different signals to regulate cold
tolerance in Arabidopsis. Ding et al.
demonstrate that the protein kinase
OST1, a key component in ABA signaling,
is also activated by cold stress. In
response to cold, OST1 phosphorylates
and stabilizes ICE1, promoting the
expression of downstream cold-
tolerance genes.
Developmental Cell
Article
OST1 Kinase Modulates Freezing Toleranceby Enhancing ICE1 Stability in ArabidopsisYanglin Ding,1 Hui Li,1 Xiaoyan Zhang,1 Qi Xie,2 Zhizhong Gong,1 and Shuhua Yang1,*1State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193,
China2State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Plant Gene Research Center, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
*Correspondence: [email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2014.12.023
SUMMARY
Cold stress is amajor environmental factor that limitsplant growth and development. The C-repeat-bind-ing factor (CBF)-dependent cold signaling pathwayis extensively studied in Arabidopsis; however, thespecific protein kinases involved in this pathwayremain elusive. Here we report that OST1 (OPENSTOMATA 1), a well-known Ser/Thr protein kinasein ABA signaling, acts upstream ofCBFs to positivelyregulate freezing tolerance. The ost1 mutants showfreezing hypersensitivity, whereas transgenic plantsoverexpressing OST1 exhibit enhanced freezingtolerance. The OST1 kinase is activated by coldstress. Moreover, OST1 interacts with both the tran-scription factor ICE1 and the E3 ligase HOS1 in theCBF pathway. Cold-activated OST1 phosphorylatesICE1 and enhances its stability and transcriptionalactivity. Meanwhile, OST1 interferes with the interac-tion between HOS1 and ICE1, thus suppressingHOS1-mediated ICE1 degradation under cold stress.Our results thus uncover the unexpected roles ofOST1 in modulating CBF-dependent cold signalingin Arabidopsis.
INTRODUCTION
Global warming has caused climate changes with extreme tem-
peratures in different areas that greatly restrain plant growth,
development, and geographic distribution. Plants have evolved
sophisticated mechanisms to adapt to the extreme tempera-
tures. Upon exposure to cold stress, a set of cold-regulated
(COR) genes are induced to help plants adapt to chilling and
freezing stress (Chinnusamy et al., 2007; Thomashow, 1999).
The transcription factors known as C-repeat (CRT)-binding fac-
tors (CBFs) or dehydration-responsive element (DRE)-binding
proteins (DREBs) can bind to CRT/DRE cis elements and acti-
vate transcription of the downstream COR genes to increase
cold tolerance (Liu et al., 1998; Stockinger et al., 1997; Thoma-
show, 1999). Inducer of CBF expression 1 (ICE1) and calmodulin
binding transcription activator 3 (CAMTA3) are positive regula-
tors of CBF genes (Chinnusamy et al., 2003; Doherty et al.,
278 Developmental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevi
2009), whereas MYB15 and ethylene insensitive 3 (EIN3) are
negative regulators of CBF genes (Agarwal et al., 2006; Shi
et al., 2012). ICE1 is a bHLH transcription factor that binds to
the CBF3 promoter and activates its expression (Chinnusamy
et al., 2003). ICE1 has been shown to be ubiquitinated by the
E3 ligase HOS1 (high expression of osmotically responsive
gene 1) and degraded by the 26S-proteasome pathway,
whereas sumoylation of ICE1 mediated by SIZ1 (SAP and Miz)
stabilizes ICE1 (Dong et al., 2006; Miura et al., 2007). A recent
study has shown that JA ZIM-domain 1/4 (JAZ1/4) interacts
with ICE1 to repress its transcriptional activity (Hu et al., 2013).
Therefore, ICE1 is not only a central component in cold signaling,
but also serves as a convergence point integrating cold and
other signaling pathways.
Protein phosphorylation plays a pivotal role in plant responses
to cold stress. Several Ca2+-dependent protein kinases (CPKs),
such asOsCPK13, AtCPK1, andCBL-interacting protein kinase3
(AtCIPK3), are involved in cold responses of plants (Bohmer and
Romeis, 2007; Kim et al., 2003; Komatsu et al., 2007). In addition,
the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade is also
implicated in cold signaling. MKK2 enhances freezing tolerance
by activatingCOR expression (Teige et al., 2004). The Ca2+ bind-
ing calcium/calmodulin-regulated receptor-like kinase CRLK1
regulates CBF regulons and freezing tolerance by modulating
MAPK kinase activity (Yang et al., 2010a, 2010b). However, the
mechanism of these kinases underlying cold signaling remains
largely unknown.
OPEN STOMATA 1 (OST1)/SnRK2.6/SnRK2E is a Ser/Thr pro-
tein kinase in ABA signaling (Mustilli et al., 2002). When ABA
accumulates under stress conditions, the PYR/PYL/RCAR ABA
receptors bind to ABA and subsequently interact with and inhibit
PP2C phosphatases, thus releasing the inhibition of OST1 by
PP2Cs (Hao et al., 2011; Ma et al., 2009; Park et al., 2009; Ume-
zawa et al., 2009; Vlad et al., 2009; Yoshida et al., 2006). Acti-
vated OST1 can phosphorylate ABRE-binding proteins/factors
(AREBs/ABFs) to regulate the expression of stress-responsive
genes (Furihata et al., 2006) and phosphorylate S-type anion
channel SLAC1 to control stomatal movement in plants (Geiger
et al., 2009).
In this study, we report that OST1 interacts with and phosphor-
ylates ICE1, which in turn stabilizes ICE1 and promotes its tran-
scriptional activity under cold stress. Moreover, OST1 interferes
with the interaction betweenHOS1 and ICE1, which also contrib-
utes to stabilizing ICE1. Our study thus reveals that OST1 posi-
tively regulates cold signaling in the CBF-dependent pathway.
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Figure 1. OST1 Mediates Plant Responses to Freezing Stress
(A and B) Freezing phenotypes (A) and survival rates (B) of the ost1mutants. Two-week-old plants grown onMSplates at 22�Cwere treated at�5�C for 1 hr or 2 hr
for NA plants and at �8�C or �9�C for 1 hr for acclimated plants (CA; 4 days at 4�C).(C and D) Freezing phenotypes (C) and survival rates (D) of 16-day-old Super:OST1-Myc plants.
(E) Ion leakage assay of the plants in (A) and (C).
(F) Expression of CBFs in 2-week-old seedlings under cold stress.
In (B, D, E and F), data are means of three replicates ± SD, and the asterisks indicate significant differences compared with the WT under the same treatment
conditions (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, t test).
RESULTS
OST1 Is a Positive Regulator in Freezing ToleranceTo identify protein kinases involved in cold stress, we collected a
set of T-DNA insertion mutants of genes that encode protein
kinases from public resources and conducted a freezing toler-
ance assay. Two knockout mutants in OST1/SnRK2.6/SnRK2E,
ost1-3/snrk2.6/snrk2e, and ost1-4 (Figures S1A and S1B avail-
able online) showed defective phenotypes under freezing stress
and were chosen for further study.
Under nonacclimated (NA) and cold-acclimated (CA) condi-
tions, the ost1-3 and ost1-4mutants displayed freezing-sensitive
phenotypes compared with the WT Col (Figure 1A). The survival
rates of the ost1 mutants were much lower than the WT under
both conditions (Figure 1B). Consistent with this, ion leakage,
an indicator of plasma membrane injury caused by cold stress,
was dramatically higher in ost1 than in the WT after freezing
Develop
treatment (Figure 1E). Furthermore, overexpression of OST1 in
ost1-3 fully complemented the freezing phenotypes ost1-3 (Fig-
ures S1C–S1E). These results indicate that OST1 is required for
freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis.
To further assess the role of OST1 in freezing stress, we gener-
ated transgenic plants overexpressing OST1-Myc driven by a
super promoter (OST1-OE) (Figure S1F). These transgenic plants
showed enhanced freezing tolerance compared with the WT
under both NA and CA conditions (Figures 1C and 1D). Ion
leakage in these transgenic plants was consistently decreased
compared with the WT (Figure 1E), suggesting that OST1 posi-
tively regulates freezing tolerance.
OST1 Is Activated by Cold StressWe tested whether cold stress has effects on protein level and
localization of OST1 in OST1-OE transgenic plants. The OST1
protein level and its localization in the nucleus and cytosol
mental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 279
Figure 2. Cold Stress Activates OST1 Protein Kinase
(A) In-gel kinase assay of OST1 under cold stress. Total proteins prepared from 2-week-old Super:OST1-Myc plants treated at 4�C for the indicated times were
incubated with anti-Myc agarose beads and separated by SDS-PAGE gel containing 0.3 mg/mL MBP substrate. Plants treated with 50 mM ABA were used as a
control. Radioactivity is shown in the top panel. OST1-Myc detected with anti-Myc antibody is shown in the bottom.
(B) OST1 kinase activity in aba2-21 and abi1-1 (C) mutants under cold stress. Protoplasts prepared from aba2-21 and abi1-1 (C) expressing OST1-Myc were
treated at 4�C for the indicated times. For NDGA treatment, 100 mMNDGA was added for 1 hr before cold treatment. One mCi of [g-32P] was used for the WT and
aba2-21, and 4 mCi of [g-32P] was used for abi1-1 (C). OST1 was immunoprecipitated with anti-Myc antibody and subjected to kinase assay using MBP as
substrate or to immunoblot analysis with anti-Myc antibody. Radioactivity is shown in the top. OST1-Myc serves as a loading control. All these experiments were
done at the same conditions with the same exposure time.
(C and D) Freezing phenotypes (C) and survival rates (D) of 2-week-old ost1-3 and abi1-1 (C) under freezing stress.
(E and F) Freezing phenotypes (E) and survival rates (F) of 2-week-old abi1 abi2 hab1 mutant under freezing stress.
(G) Ion leakage of the plants in (C) and (E).
(H) Expression of CBFs in 2-week-old seedlings under cold stress. The expression of gene in untreated WT was set to 1.
In (D and F–H), data are means of three replicates ± SD, and the asterisks indicate significant differences compared with the WT under the same treatment
conditions (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, t test).
were not obviously altered after cold treatment (Figures S2A and
S2B). To examine whether OST1 kinase activity is affected by
cold stress, we performed an in-gel kinase assay using OST1-
OE plants. ABA was used to activate OST1 as a control (Mustilli
280 Developmental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevi
et al., 2002) (Figure 2A). Intriguingly, we found that OST1 was
activated rapidly after cold treatment in OST1-OE plants (Fig-
ure 2A). Previous studies indicated that ABA-deficient mutants
show defect in freezing tolerance and expression of COR genes
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(Mantyla et al., 1995; Xiong et al., 2001), suggesting that ABA is
involved in cold responses. In order to see whether ABA plays a
role in cold-activated OST1, we compared the OST1 activity be-
tween the WT and ABA-deficient mutant aba2-21 (Mang et al.,
2012) under cold stress. The similar cold-induced OST1 activ-
ities were observed in both the WT and aba2-21 protoplasts ex-
pressed OST1-Myc (Figure 2B). aba2-21mutant contains <10%
ABA of WT (Mang et al., 2012) (Figure S2C). The cold activation
of OST1 in aba2-21was not further compromised by the ABA in-
hibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) (Mang et al., 2012) (Fig-
ure 2B). In addition, ABA contents in both WT and aba2-21
mutants were moderately decreased after cold treatment (Fig-
ure S2C). Taken together, these results suggest that activation
of OST1 by cold and ABAmay be through two distinct pathways.
In ABA signaling, the PP2C protein ABI1 interacts with OST1
and negatively regulates OST1 activity (Umezawa et al., 2009;
Vlad et al., 2009; Yoshida et al., 2006). We next addressed
whether ABI1 affects cold-induced OST1 activity by examining
OST1 activity in the gain-of-function mutant abi1-1 in
Columbia-0 accession (here as abi1-1 (C)) (Luo et al., 2014),
which carries the same mutation as abi1-1 in Ler (Leung et al.,
1994; Meyer et al., 1994). OST1 activity induced by cold was
abolished in abi1-1 (C) (Figure 2B). Consistently, abi1-1 (C)
mutant and ABI1-overexpressing (ABI1-OE) plants exhibited
reduced freezing tolerance and increased ion leakage compared
with the WT (Figures 2C, 2D, 2G, and S2D–S2G). In contrast, the
abi1 abi2 hab1 loss-of-function mutant showed higher survival
rate and lower ion leakage than the WT after freezing treatment
(Figures 2E–2G). These results suggest that ABI1 represses
cold-induced OST1 activity, which in turn negatively controls
freezing tolerance.
OST1 Positively Regulates the Expression of CBFGenesNext, we examined whether OST1-mediated plant responses to
cold stress is dependent on the CBF pathway. Compared with
the WT, the basal expression of CBF1-CBF3 genes was downre-
gulated in ots1-3, whereas it was upregulated inOST1-OE plants
without cold treatment (Figure 1F). Furthermore, expression of
CBF genes was rapidly induced by cold in both WT and ost1-3;
however, the cold induction of these genes in ost1-3was consis-
tently decreased compared with the WT (Figure 1F). Cold induc-
tionofCBF regulons, includingCOR15AandKIN1,wasalsosignif-
icantly attenuated in ost1-3 compared with the WT (Figure S1G).
In contrast, cold induction ofCBFsand their regulonswasdramat-
ically increased inOST1-OEplantscomparedwith theWT (Figures
1F and S1H). These results suggest that OST1 acts upstream of
CBFs to regulate CBF-dependent gene expression.
Similar to ost1-3, cold-induced expression of CBFs in abi1-1
(C) and ABI1-OE plants was decreased compared with the WT
(Figures 2H and S2H). These results further demonstrate that
OST1-mediated cold signaling is suppressed by ABI1.
OST1 Interacts with ICE1Because OST1 positively regulates the expression of CBFs, we
next tested whether OST1 interacts with ICE1, the transcription
factor upstream of CBFs. A yeast two-hybrid assay showed that
ICE1 interacted with OST1 and its homolog SnRK2.3 but not
SnRK2.4 (Figures 3A and S3). We further identified the functional
domains required for their interaction in yeast. ICE1 protein con-
Develop
tainsaputativeacidicdomain, serine-rich region in theN terminus,
and MYC-like bHLH domain and possible zipper region at the C
terminus (Chinnusamy et al., 2003). Deletion of the N-terminal re-
gions of ICE1 did not obviously affect the interaction between
OST1and ICE1,whereasdeletionof theC terminusabolished their
interaction (Figures 3A and 3B), indicating that C terminus of ICE1
is required for its binding to OST1. To determine the functional
domain of OST1 interacting with ICE1, we generated two trun-
cated forms of OST1 (Figure 3C) and found that Domain II of
OST1 is necessary for the OST1-ICE1interaction (Figure 3D).
The OST1-ICE1 interaction was verified by an in vitro pull-
down assay. The His-ICE1 protein, but not the MBP-His protein,
was able to pull down the GST-OST1 protein (Figure 3E). In addi-
tion, a coimmunoprecipitation (coIP) assay was performed in
Nicotiana benthamiana leaves expressing OST1-Myc and HA-
FLAG-ICE1 (HF-ICE1), and OST1 was pulled down by ICE1 (Fig-
ure 3F). Further, a bimolecular fluorescence complementation
(BiFC) assay revealed that the OST1-ICE1 association occurred
in the nuclei of tobacco epidermal cells (Figure 3G). These results
collectively indicate that OST1 interacts with ICE1.
OST1 Phosphorylates ICE1 and Enhances Its Stabilityunder Cold StressWe next examined whether OST1 can phosphorylate ICE1
in vitro. His-OST1 showed strong autophosphorylation activity.
When incubated with OST1, ICE1 was phosphorylated (Fig-
ure 4A), suggesting that ICE1 is a substrate of OST1 in vitro.
To determine whether ICE1 is phosphorylated in an OST1-
dependent manner in planta, ICE1 proteins were immunoprecip-
itated from HF-ICE1 transgenic plants and treated with calf
intestinal alkaline phosphatase (CIAP). At 22�C, the position of
ICE1 band derived from HF-ICE1 plants was not obviously
altered with CIAP treatment (Figure 4B). However, the ICE1 pro-
tein extracted from 4�C-treated plants migrated more slowly
compared with that at 22�C without CIAP treatment. Moreover,
this migration of ICE1 protein at 4�C was dramatically inhibited
after CIAP treatment (Figure 4B), indicating that ICE1 is phos-
phorylated in planta especially under cold conditions. In
contrast, no very obviousmigration of ICE1 protein was detected
in ost1-3 plants expressingHF-ICE1 at 4�Cbefore and after CIAP
treatment (Figure 4B), suggesting that the phosphorylation of
ICE1 is predominantly mediated by OST1 under cold conditions.
We next tested whether ICE1 stability is influenced by OST1
in vivo. ICE1 is shown to be degraded by HOS1 under cold stress
(Dong et al., 2006). Consistent with this, the ICE1 protein was
degraded in HF-ICE1 transgenic plants upon cold treatment
(Figure 4C). However, the degradation of ICE1 was significantly
reduced in HF-ICE1/OST1-Myc transgenic plants under cold
stress (Figure 4C). This phenomenon was also consistently
observed in Arabidopsis protoplasts expressing HF-ICE1/
OST1-Myc. Cold-induced ICE1 degradation was blocked by
expression of OST1 and addition of MG132, a 26S proteosome
inhibitor (Figures S4A and S4B).
To further dissect the role of OST1 in ICE1 stability, we exam-
ined the ubiquitination of ICE1 in HF-ICE1 and HF-ICE1/OST1-
Myc transgenic plants. ICE1 protein was ubiquitinated by cold
stress in HF-ICE1 transgenic plants, which is consistent with a
previous study (Dong et al., 2006). However, the ubiquitination
of ICE1 was evidently inhibited in HF-ICE1/OST1-Myc
mental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 281
Figure 3. OST1 Interacts with ICE1
(A) The interaction of OST1 and ICE1 in yeast.
(B and C) Diagram of ICE1-truncated proteins (B) and OST1-truncated proteins (C) used for the yeast two-hybrid assays described in (A) and (D).
(D) Interaction of ICE1 and OST1 in yeast.
(E) Interaction of OST1 and ICE1 proteins in vitro. The GST-OST1 proteins were incubated with immobilized His-ICE1 or MBP-His, and the proteins immuno-
precipitated with His-beads were detected using anti-GST1 antibody.
(F) Interaction of OST1 and ICE1 proteins in vivo. The total protein extracts from N. benthamiana leaves transfected with 35S:HA-FLAG-ICE1 (35S:HF-ICE1)/
Super:OST1-myc or Super:OST1-Myc alone were immunoprecipitated with anti-FLAG Sepharose beads. The proteins from crude lysates (left, input) and
immunoprecipitated proteins (right) were detected with anti-Myc antibody.
(G) BiFC analysis of the interaction between OST1 and ICE1 in N. benthamiana. Scale bars represent 20 mm.
transgenic plants (Figure 4D). These results suggest that the
OST1-mediated ICE1 phosphorylation stabilizes ICE1 by com-
promising its ubiquitination under cold conditions.
Next, we examined ICE1 degradation in the WT, ost1-3, and
OST1-OE plants using a cell-free protein degradation assay.
ICE1 protein was extracted fromArabidopsis protoplasts that ex-
pressedHF-ICE1and incubatedwith total proteins prepared from
theWT,ost1-3, andOST1-OEplants in the presence of ATP. ICE1
was degraded faster in ost1-3 than the WT under cold stress.
However, the degradation of ICE1 was largely suppressed in
OST1-OE plants (Figure 4E). These data provide further evidence
that ICE1 stability is positively regulated by OST1 in planta.
We next searched for possible phosphorylation sites in the
ICE1 protein according to the OST1 phosphoproteomics data
282 Developmental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevi
(Wang et al., 2013a). Strikingly, we found that S278 of ICE1might
be a putative phosphorylation site by OST1. To dissect the
possible biological function of this potential phosphorylation
site of ICE1, WT ICE1 and the phosphorylated active form of
ICE1 carrying a serine to aspartate mutation (ICE1S278D) were
transformed into theWT plants and protoplasts, and ICE1 stabil-
ity was examined. The ICE1 protein levels were decreased in
both stable transgenic plants and Arabidopsis protoplasts ex-
pressing HF-ICE1 after 3 hr of cold treatment (Figures 4F and
S4C). However, the stability of ICE1S278D was dramatically
enhanced in transgenic plants and protoplasts expressing
HF-ICE1S278D compared with WT ICE1 (Figures 4F and S4C),
suggesting that phosphorylation at S278 of ICE1 is required
for ICE1 stability. We also generated construct expressing
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Figure 4. OST1 Phosphorylates ICE1 under Cold Stress
(A) Phosphorylation of ICE1 and ICE1S278A by OST1 in vitro. The purified proteins were separated by 10% SDS-PAGE after incubation in protein kinase assay
buffer containing [g-32P]ATP. Radioactivity is shown in the top, and ICE1 and ICE1S278A proteins detected with anti-HA antibody are shown in the bottom.
(B) Phosphorylation of ICE1 under cold stress in vivo. Two-week-old 35S:HF-ICE1, 35S:HF-ICE1/ost1-3 and 35S:HF-ICE1S278Aplants were treated at 4�C for 1 hr.
ICE1 proteins immunoprecipitated with anti-HA antibody were treated with calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (CIAP) at 37�C for 30 min and then subjected to
immunoblot analysis using anti-HA antibody.
(C) ICE1 stability is enhanced by OST1 in vivo under cold stress. Two-week-old 35S:HF-ICE1 or 35S:HF-ICE1/Super:OST1-Myc transgenic plants were treated at
4�C for 0 and 3 hr. ICE1 was detected with anti-HA antibody; OST1 was detected with anti-Myc antibody, and Actin2 served as a control.
(D) Ubiquitination of ICE1 is suppressed by OST1 in vivo. Two-week-old 35S:HF-ICE1 or 35S:HF-ICE1/Super:OST1-Myc seedlings were treated at 4�C for 6 hr,
and the proteins were subjected to immunoblot analysis using anti-HA or anti-Ubiquitin (Ub) antibody for ICE1 and anti-Myc antibody for OST1.
(E) OST1 suppresses ICE1 degradation. In vitro cell-free degradation assays were performed. ICE1 was detected with anti-HA antibody, and OST1 was detected
with anti-Myc antibody.
(F) The stability of ICE1 and ICE1S278D under cold stress. Stable transgenic plants expressing ICE1 and ICE1S278D were treated at 4�C for 0 and 3 hr. ICE1 proteins
were detected with anti-HA antibody. Actin2 served as a loading control.
(G and I) Freezing phenotypes of 12-day-old ice1-2 plants overexpressing ICE1 (G) and ICE1S278A (I).
(H and J) Survival rates of 12-day-old ice1-2 plants overexpressingWT ICE1 (H) and ICE1S278A (J). Data are means of three replicates ± SD, and asterisks indicate
significant differences compared to the WT under the same treatment conditions (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, t test).
Developmental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 283
Figure 5. OST1 Promotes the Transcrip-
tional Activity of ICE1 under Cold Stress
(A) EMAS assay to examine ICE1 binding to the
CBF3 promoter. His-ICE1 was immunoprecipi-
tated with His agarose and incubated with purified
GST-OST1 or GST with kinase reaction buffer at
30�C for 30 min. A biotin-labeled CBF3 DNA
fragment was then incubated with His-ICE1 or
phosphorylated His-ICE1 protein.
(B) ChIP analysis of ICE1 binding to the MYC
motifs in the CBF3 gene. The upstream region and
part of an exon of CBF3 are shown with a white
box and black box, respectively. The arrowheads
in the top indicate the sites containing MYCs in
the CBF3 promoter. Hatched boxes represent the
DNA fragments amplified in the ChIP assay.
Protoplasts expressing 35S:HF-ICE1 alone or
35S:HF-ICE1/Super: OST1-Myc were treated at
22�C or 4�C and subjected to ChIP assays.
(C) Activation of CBF3 expression by ICE1 is pro-
moted by OST1 in N. benthamiana. The various
constructs used are shown in the top. CBF3:GUS
was cotransformed with other constructs into
N. benthamiana leaves, and leaves transfected
with CBF3:GUS were only used as a control. After
transfection, the plants were incubated at 22�C for
36 hr and 4�C for an additional 3 hr. Relative GUS
activity (GUS/Luc) indicating the level of CBF3
expression activated by ICE1 is shown in the
bottom. In (B) and (C), data are means of three
replicates ± SD.
nonphosphorylation mutated form of ICE1 carrying a serine 278
to alanine mutation (ICE1S278A) for in vitro kinase assay.
ICE1S278A could also be phosphorylated by OST1, but the
signal was slightly weaker than ICE1 (Figure 4A), implying
the existence of other OST1 phosphorylation sites in ICE1.
When ICE1S278A was expressed in Arabidopsis, the migration
of ICE1 was drastically suppressed in ICE1S278A transgenic
plants under cols stress (Figure 4B), indicating that S278 of
ICE1 is the major phosphorylation site of OST1 in vivo under
cold conditions.
We next determined whether phosphorylation of ICE1 is
required for its function by introducing ICE1S278A into ice1-2 (Fig-
ure S4D). Compared with the WT, the ice1-2 mutant showed
increased freezing sensitivity and ion leakage, which could be
fully rescued by ICE1 (Figures 4G, 4H, and S4E), but could not
be rescued by ICE1S278A (Figures 4I, 4J, and S4F). These data
indicate that phosphorylation of ICE1 at S278 is required for its
function in cold signaling.
OST1 Enhances the Binding Ability of ICE1 to the CBF3
PromoterTo investigate how OST1 affects ICE1 in regulation of CBF gene
expression, we analyzed the effect of OST1 on ICE1 binding ac-
284 Developmental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc.
tivity by electrophoresis mobility shift
assay (EMSA). ICE1 protein was able to
bind to the CBF3 promoter (Figure 5A),
which is consistent with a previous study
(Chinnusamy et al., 2003). When ICE1
was phosphorylated by OST1 in vitro,
the binding affinity of phosphorylated ICE1 to theCBF3 promoter
was dramatically enhanced (Figure 5A).
The effect of OST1 on the ability of ICE1 to bind the CBF3 pro-
moter was further examined by chromatin immunoprecipitation
(ChIP) assays. Arabidopsis protoplasts expressing HF-ICE1
alone or HF-ICE1/OST1-Myc were treated at 22�C or 4�C.ICE1 specifically bound to the CBF3 promoter, and this binding
activity was enhanced when OST1 was overexpressed at 22�C(Figure 5B). Furthermore, the OST1-mediated ICE1 binding to
the CBF3 promoter was further enhanced by cold stress (Fig-
ure 5B). These results suggest that OST1 promotes ICE1 binding
to the CBF3 promoter in vivo.
To further test the effect of OST1 on ICE1 transcriptional ac-
tivity, we performed transient transactivation assays using the
CBF3 promoter fused to the GUS gene as a reporter. ICE1
and OST1 effector constructs were expressed under the con-
trol of the 35S or super promoter and transfected together
with the reporter construct into leaves of N. benthamiana.
The expression of ICE1 protein activated CBF3 expression
(Figure 5C), whereas coexpression of OST1 dramatically in-
creased ICE1-activated CBF3 expression. In addition, cold
treatment enhanced the OST1-induced promotion of ICE1-
induced CBF3 expression (Figure 5C). These results strongly
Figure 6. OST1 Competes with ICE1 for Interaction with HOS1
(A) The interaction of OST1 and the C terminus of HOS1 (HOS1C) in yeast.
(B) Coimmunoprecipitation of OST1 and HOS1 proteins in vivo. N. benthamiana leaves were transfected with Super:OST1-Myc alone or Super:OST1-myc/
35S:HF-HOS1C. The total protein extracts were immunoprecipitated with anti-HA Sepharose beads, and the proteins from crude lysates (input), and immu-
noprecipitated proteins were detected with anti-Myc antibody.
(C) The in vitro interaction between ICE1 and HOS1 is weakened by OST1. GST-OST1 protein combined with His-ICE1 or His-MBP was incubated with im-
mobilized MBP-HOS1. MBP-HOS1 input is shown in the right. Immunoprecipitated proteins were detected with anti-MBP antibody. The gradient in the bottom
indicates an increasing amount of GST-OST1.
(D) Yeast three-hybrid assays showing the effects of OST1 on the HOS1-ICE1 interaction. Yeast cells were transformed with pB-HOS1C-OST1 or pB-HOS1C-
OST1DC with pA-ICE1 and cultured on SC/-Trp/-Leu/-Met medium. The b-galactosidase assay was performed. The interaction value for HOS1-ICE1-OST1DC
was set to 1, and the relative interaction for HOS1-ICE1-OST1 is shown in the bottom. The data are mean values of three replicates ± SD.
(E) Interactions of OST1, HOS1, and ICE1 proteins in vivo. Arabidopsis protoplasts were transfected with HOS1C-GFP/HF-ICE1 (lane 1), HOS1C-GFP/HF-ICE1/
OST1-Myc (lane 2), orHOS1C-GFP alone (lane 3). Proteins from crude lysates (input) were detected with anti-GFP and anti-Myc antibodies. Total protein extracts
were immunoprecipitated with anti-HA Sepharose beads. Immunoprecipitated proteins were detected with anti-GFP antibody.
(F) The effect of ICE1 phosphorylation on HOS1-ICE1 interaction. N. benthamiana leaves were transfected with HF-HOS1C and Myc-ICE1 or Myc-ICE1S278D.
Proteins from crude lysates (input) were detected with anti-Myc antibody. The total protein extracts were immunoprecipitated with anti-HA Sepharose beads.
Immunoprecipitated proteins were detected with anti-Myc antibody.
support that OST1 modulates cold signaling by controlling the
transcriptional ability of ICE1.
The OST1-HOS1 Interaction Interferes with the HOS1-ICE1 InteractionBecause ICE1 interacts with HOS1 (Dong et al., 2006) and OST1
(Figure 3), we next tested whether OST1 is also associated with
HOS1. In yeast, OST1 was able to interact with the C terminus of
HOS1 (Figure 6A), which is also the interacting domain with ICE1
(Dong et al., 2006). Moreover, a coIP assay confirmed the inter-
action of HOS1 and OST1 in N. benthamiana leaves (Figure 6B).
To examine whether OST1 affects the HOS1-ICE1 interaction
in vitro, MBP-HOS1, GST-OST1, and His-ICE1 proteins ex-
pressed in E. coli were used for a pull-down assay. HOS1 inter-
acted with ICE1, whereas this interaction was greatly reduced by
the addition of OST1 (Figure 6C). Moreover, the attenuation of
this interaction was dependent on the amount of OST1 (Fig-
ure 6C). These data demonstrate that OST1 and HOS1 compete
for binding to ICE1 in vitro.
A yeast three-hybrid assay was performed to further explore
the effect of OST1 on the HOS1-ICE1 interaction. We generated
Develop
a prey construct expressing ICE1, two bait constructs express-
ing C-terminal HOS1 and a mock OST1 bridge (OST1DC) that
did not interact with ICE1 (Figure 4D) or the full-length OST1
bridge protein. The HOS1-ICE1 interaction was dramatically
decreased in yeast cells expressing OST1 but not in those ex-
pressing OST1DC (Figure 6D).
We then analyzed the effect of OST1 on the HOS1-ICE1
interaction in planta. HOS1C-GFP, HF-ICE1, and OST1-Myc
were expressed in Arabidopsis protoplasts, and a coIP assay
was performed. HOS1 could interact with ICE1, and the
HOS1-ICE1 interaction was evidently weakened by coexpres-
sion of OST1 (Figure 6E). Moreover, the interaction of HOS1
and ICE1S278D was examined in N. benthamiana expressing
HF-HOS1C and Myc-ICE1S278D. ICE1S278D failed to interact
with HOS1 (Figure 6F), suggesting that the phosphorylated
ICE1 protein inhibits its interaction with HOS1. Furthermore,
we determined the effect of OST1 on ICE1 stability in the
presence of HOS1. HF-ICE1, OST1-Myc, and HOS1-HA were
expressed in Arabidopsis protoplasts, respectively, and total
proteins were extracted and mixed them with combinations
under cold conditions for a semi-in vitro degradation assay.
mental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 285
Figure 7. Genetic Interaction of OST1 and ICE1
(A and B) Freezing phenotypes (A) and survival rates (B) of 2-week-old ost1-3, ice1-2, and ost1-3 ice1-2 plants.
(C) Expression of CBFs in 2-week-old seedlings described in (A) after cold treatment at 4�C for 3 hr.
(D and E) Freezing phenotypes (D) and survival rates (E) of 2-week-old ost1-3 plants overexpressing ICE1. The corresponding protein levels are shown at the
top of (E).
(F) Expression of CBFs in 2-week-old seedlings described in (D) after cold treatment at 4�C for 3 hr. The expression of gene in untreated WT was set to 1.
In (B), (C), (E), and (F), data are means of three replicates ± SD, and asterisks indicate significant differences between the mutants and WT under the same
treatment conditions (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, t test).
(G) The proposed model showing that OST1 modulates cold signaling by stabilizing ICE1.
Cold stress activates OST1 protein kinase, which is suppressed by ABI1. The cold-activated OST1 subsequently phosphorylates ICE1 and inhibits HOS1-
mediated degradation of ICE1. In addition, OST1 interacts with HOS1 and facilitates the release of HOS1 to bind to ICE1. As a result, the stability and tran-
scriptional activity of ICE1 are enhanced, thereby promoting the expression of CBFs and freezing tolerance.
ICE1 was degraded by HOS1, whereas overexpression of
OST1 inhibited the degradation of ICE1 by HOS1 (Figure S4G).
Taken together, these results suggest that OST1 phosphory-
lates ICE1, which in turn suppresses HOS1-mediated degrada-
tion of ICE1.
Genetic Interaction of OST1 and ICE1
To explore the genetic interaction of OST1 and ICE1, we gener-
ated ice1-2 ost1-3 double mutant. Similar to ice1-2 and ost1-3,
the ice1-2 ost1-3 double mutant displayed enhanced freezing
sensitivity and decreased cold induction of CBF genes (Figures
7A–7C). When ICE1 was overexpressed in ost1-3, the freezing
hypersensitivity and decreased cold-induced CBFs expression
of ost1-3 were fully suppressed (Figures 7D–7F). These results
further support that OST1 acts upstream of ICE1 in the CBF-
dependent pathway.
286 Developmental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevi
DISCUSSION
Currently, the most thoroughly understood cold signaling
pathway is ICE1-CBF-COR cascade; however, the protein ki-
nases that act upstream in this cascade have remained elusive.
In this study, we demonstrate that OST1, the positive regulator in
the ABA signaling pathway, is a crucial protein kinase in the CBF-
dependent pathway to regulate cold responses. Under cold
stress, OST1 phosphorylates ICE1 and inhibits the degradation
of ICE1 mediated by HOS1. Meanwhile, the OST1 protein also
competes with HOS1 for binding to ICE1, thus liberating ICE1
from the HOS1-ICE1 complex. The dual role of OST1 contributes
to the enhancement of ICE1 stability to increase CBF expression
and freezing tolerance (Figure 7G).
OST1 is regarded as a central component in stomatal move-
ment regulated by ABA (Fujita et al., 2009; Mustilli et al., 2002;
er Inc.
Yoshida et al., 2002). OST1 protein kinase activity was shown to
be activated by ABA, NaCl, and low-humidity stress (Mustilli
et al., 2002; Yoshida et al., 2006), but not cold stress (Yoshida
et al., 2006). However, we show here that OST1 kinase is acti-
vated in plants under cold stress (Figure 2). This discrepancy is
probably due to the different experiment systems used. Intrigu-
ingly, cold activates OST1 at the similar levels in the WT and
ABA-deficient mutant aba2-21 (Mang et al., 2012). Previous
reports have shown that mild increases in endogenous ABA
levels are observed after 6 hr of cold treatment in Arabidopsis
(Lang et al., 1994) and after 12 hr of cold treatment in tomato
(Daie and Campbell, 1981). In this study, we found that endoge-
nous levels of ABA in both WT and aba2-21 mutant are moder-
ately reduced following 0.5 hr of cold treatment (Figure S2).
This is not contradictory because 6–24 hr of cold treatment
was used in the former studies (Daie and Campbell, 1981;
Lang et al., 1994), whereas OST1 is activated after 0.5–1.5 hr
of cold treatment in this study (Figure 2). Based on all these re-
sults, we postulate that ABA plays little role, if any, in the cold in-
duction of OST1 activity at the early stage of cold response.
Meanwhile, mutations of genes in ABA biosynthesis (aba1 and
aba3) result in impaired freezing tolerance (Mantyla et al.,
1995; Xiong et al., 2001). In these ABA-deficient mutants, the
reduced accumulation of ABA would decrease the expression
of ABA responsive genes whose encoding proteins may function
against different abiotic stresses, including cold and salt stress.
It is likely that this process would mainly determine the basal
resistance of the plants to cold stress.
Notably, cold activation of OST1 is abolished in the abi1-1
dominant mutant. Moreover, ost1, abi1-1 (C), and ABI1-OE
plants show decreased cold induction of CBF genes and
freezing sensitivity, whereas the abi1 abi2 hab1 mutant displays
the opposite freezing phenotypes (Figure 2). These data suggest
that cold stress can activate OST1 perhaps by inactivating ABI1
somehow in an ABA-independentmanner. Considering that ABA
receptors PYR/PYLs have ABA-independent functions (Hao
et al., 2011), one possibility is that cold stress may change the
conformation of some PYR/PYL proteins in an unknown mecha-
nism or affect other unknown proteins (such as proteins involved
in cold sensing) that could directly interact with ABI1 and release
its inhibition on OST1. A previous study has shown that phos-
pholipase Da1 (PLDa1)-derived phosphatidic acid (PA) in the
plasma membrane can interact with ABI1 to mediate the ABA
effects on stomata movement (Mishra et al., 2006). Cold stress
can induce an increase in PA in the plasma membrane (Welti
et al., 2002). Therefore, it is also possible that ABI1might be teth-
ered by PA under cold stress, which leads to removal of the ABI1
inhibition of OST1. Further study on how OST1 is activated by
cold stress will shed more light on the understanding of cold
perception in plants.
Under cold stress, ICE1 exists majorly as phosphorylated form
in plants, and this phosphorylation is predominantly mediated by
OST1 (Figure 4). The OST1-ICE1 interaction and phosphoryla-
tion of ICE1 at S278 by OST1 attenuates ICE1 proteolysis medi-
ated by HOS1 (Figures 4 and 5). Indeed, ICE1 protein was found
to remain stable within a 2 hr cold treatment, and thereafter it
began to degrade (Figure S4H). It is noteworthy that the ICE1-in-
teracting domain of OST1 (Domain II) is also the docking site for
ABI1 (Yoshida et al., 2006). So it is likely that ABI1 could also
Develop
compete with ICE1 for binding to OST1 and prevent OST1
from dephosphorylation by ABI1, which consequently results in
feedback activation of OST1. A previous study showed that a
mutated form of ICE1, ICE1S403A, has increased protein stability
and transactivation activity under cold stress (Miura et al., 2011).
These findings suggest that the phosphorylation of ICE1 by
different protein kinases execute distinct functions. At the early
stages of cold stress, ICE1 phosphorylated by OST1 is a stable
and active form that activates the expression of CBFs to
enhance plant freezing tolerance; however, ICE1 that is phos-
phorylated at later stages by other unknown protein kinases
may be more easily recognized by HOS1 and subsequently
degraded via the 26S-proteasome pathway (Dong et al., 2006).
Given that ICE1 is also regulated by ubiquitination and sumoyla-
tion (Dong et al., 2006; Miura et al., 2007), it will be interesting to
investigate the homeostasis regulation of ICE1 through multiple
protein modifications.
Stomatal movement plays important roles in plant responses
to environmental stimuli, including CO2 exchanges, water tran-
spiration, and plant defense responses (Shimazaki et al., 2007).
Commelina communis stomata close rapidly when plants are
shifted from 27�C to 7�C, which might be a result of increased
calcium uptake by guard cells (Wilkinson et al., 2001). ICE1 reg-
ulates plant stomatal development by interacting with an intrinsic
positive regulator, SPEECHLESS, that directs entry into the
stomatal cell lineage (Kanaoka et al., 2008). OST1 can directly
phosphorylate and activate the ion channel SLAC1 to regulate
stomatal movement (Geiger et al., 2009). The results suggest a
potential link between the cold response and stomatal develop-
ment/movement. Intriguingly, both OST1 and ICE1 are predom-
inantly expressed in guard cells and vascular tissues (Kanaoka
et al., 2008; Mustilli et al., 2002), which is consistent with our re-
sults showing their function in the same cold signaling pathway.
However, the CBFs and their target genes are expressed in all
leaf cells under cold stress (Novillo et al., 2007). The different
expression patterns of CBFs and ICE1/OST1 imply that the
reduced expression of CBFs by cold stress in ost1 and ice1mu-
tants should mainly occur in the tissues where ICE1 and OST1
are expressed. Further investigation will decipher the interplay
of stomatal development/movement and cold responses in
plants.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Plants Materials and Growth Conditions
Arabidopsis ecotype Col plants were grown on MS medium at 22�Cunder a 16 hr light/8 hr dark photoperiod. The mutants ost1-3/snrk2.6
(SALK_008068), ost1-4 (GK-516B05), abi1-1 (Col) (Luo et al., 2014), aba2-21
(Mang et al., 2012), ice1-2 (Kanaoka et al., 2008), and abi1 abi2 hab1 (Hua
et al., 2012) were used in this study. Details of transgenic plants and plasmid
constructions were described in the Supplemental Information.
Physiological Analyses
The freezing tolerance and ion leakage assays were performed as described
(Shi et al., 2012). The detailed procedures were described in Supplemental In-
formation. ABA contents were determined as described previously (Fu et al.,
2012).
In Vitro Pull-Down Assay
The pull-down assay was performed as described (Wang et al., 2011). Detailed
procedures are provided in the Supplemental Information.
mental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 287
Yeast Two-Hybrid and Three-Hybrid Assays
The yeast two-hybrid and three-hybrid assays were performed as described
(Lian et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2011). The yeast strain was transformed with
pairs of plasmids (pB-HOS1C-OST1 and pA-ICE1 or pB-HOS1C-mOST1
and pA-ICE1) in yeast three hybrid assay.
Protein Kinase Assay
In-gel kinase assay was performed as described previously (Fujii et al., 2007).
Detailed in vitro and in-gel kinase assays are provided in the Supplemental
Information.
CoIP Assay
The total proteins were extracted from N. benthamiana leaves expressing
Super:OST1-Myc/35:HF-ICE1 or Super:OST1-Myc constructs and incubated
with anti-FLAG agarose beads. Proteins bound to the beads were detected
with anti-Myc antibody (Sigma-Aldrich).
For the interference assay, the total proteins were extracted from Arabidop-
sis protoplasts expressing Super:OST1-Myc/35:HF-ICE1 or Super:OST1-
Myc/35:HF-ICE1/Super:HOS1C-GFP or Super:HOS1C-GFP, incubated with
anti-HA agarose beads and detected with anti-GFP antibody (Sigma-Aldrich).
For the HOS1-ICE1S278D interaction assay, total proteins were prepared
from N. benthamiana leaves expressing 35S:HF-HOS1C/35S:Myc-ICE1S278D,
35S:HF-HOS1C/35S:Myc-ICE1, 35S:Myc-ICE1S278D, and 35S:Myc-ICE1 con-
structs and immunoprecipitated with HA agarose beads. The samples were
detected by anti-Myc and anti-HA antibodies (Sigma-Aldrich).
ChIP Assay
ChIP assay was performed onArabidopsis protoplasts expressing 35:HF-ICE1
alone or 35:HF-ICE1/Super:OST1-Myc as described (Shi et al., 2012). The
enriched DNA fragments were analyzed by qRT-PCR using the primers listed
in the Supplemental Information.
EMSA Assay
His-ICE1 and GST-OST1 proteins were expressed in E. coli and purified using
His and glutathione sepharose beads, respectively (Amersham Biosciences).
His-ICE1 was incubated with GST-OST1 or GST with kinase reaction buffer
at 30�C for 30 min. A biotin-labeled CBF3 DNA fragment was then incubated
with His-ICE1 or phosphorylated His-ICE1. The EMSA assay was described
in the Supplemental Information.
Cell-free and Semi-In Vivo Protein Degradation Assays
Cell-free and semi-in vivo protein degradation assays were performed as
described (Liu et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2013b). Equal amounts of proteins
from the WT Col, ost1-3, and Super:OST1-Myc plants were incubated with
HF-ICE1 protein expressed in Arabidopsis protoplasts at 22�C for 30 and
60 min, and they were detected by immunoblotting with an anti-HA antibody.
The detailed semi-in vivo protein degradation assay was described in the Sup-
plemental Information.
Additional Methods
Additional information on plasmid construction, gene expression analysis, and
transient transactivation assay is provided in Supplemental Information.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Supplemental Information includes Supplemental Experimental Procedures
and four figures and can be found with this article online at http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.devcel.2014.12.023.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank J.K. Zhu, J. Hua, H.Q. Yang, D. Yu, and Y. Guo for vectors and
seeds and S. Fang and J. Chu in determining the ABA contents. This
work was supported by the National Key Scientific Research Project
(2011CB915401), the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(31330006 and 31421062), and the China Foundation for Distinguished Young
Scientists (31225003).
288 Developmental Cell 32, 278–289, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevi
Received: August 5, 2014
Revised: November 4, 2014
Accepted: December 23, 2014
Published: February 9, 2015
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SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences
© The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com life.scichina.com link.springer.com
*Corresponding author (email: [email protected])
• RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT • doi: 10.1007/s11427-015-4822-7
doi: 10.1007/s11427-015-4822-7
OST1 phosphorylates ICE1 to enhance plant cold tolerance
LANG ZhaoBo1* & ZHU JianKang1,2
1Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China;
2Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
Received February 11, 2015; accepted February 12, 2015
Citation: Lang ZB, Zhu JK. OST1 phosphorylates ICE1 to enhance plant cold tolerance. Sci China Life Sci, doi: 10.1007/s11427-015-4822-7
Low temperature is one of the most important environmen-tal stresses that affect plant survival, growth and develop-ment. In response to cold stress, hundreds of genes are up- or down-regulated in plants [1]. The C-repeat binding factor (CBF) regulon is the best-understood cold-responsive tran-scriptional module [1]. In Arabidopsis, there are three CBF genes, i.e., CBF1, CBF2 and CBF3. They are rapidly in-duced when plants are exposed to low temperature. The CBF genes encode transcription factors that activate the expression of many downstream cold responsive (COR) genes, which in turn encode proteins that protect plant cells from freezing damage.
Multiple transcription factors act as upstream regulators of CBF expression in response to cold stress. MYB15 and EIN3 (ethylene insensitive 3) are negative regulators of CBFs, whereas ICE1 (inducer of CBF expression1) and CAMTA (calmodulin binding transcription activator) pro-teins are positive regulators. In addition to these upstream transcription factors that directly bind to CBF promoters, two enzymes, HOS1 (high expression of osmotically re-sponsive gene1) and SIZ1 (SAP and Miz 1), regulate CBF expression indirectly by changing ICE1 protein stability and activity [2,3]. HOS1 is an ubiquitin E3 ligase involved in the ubiquitination and proteosomal degradation of ICE1 under cold stress [2]. In contrast, SIZ1 is a SUMO (small ubiquitin related modifier) E3 ligase involved in the stabili-zation of ICE1 protein [3]. Besides sumoylation and ubiqui-tination, protein phosphorylation may also play an im-
portant role in the regulation of ICE1 activity under cold stress [4]. However, the protein kinase involved in ICE1 phosphorylation in response to cold stress has been a mys-tery.
Recently, the research group led by Yang ShuHua at China Agricultural University discovered that the protein kinase OST1 (open stomata 1) phosphorylates ICE1 under cold stress to stabilize and activate ICE1 and thus facilitates CBF expression (Figure 1). Their study, for the first time, revealed a protein kinase that is critical for freezing toler-ance in plants by directly phosphorylating ICE1. Ding et al. [5] identified OST1 through a reverse genetics screen in Arabidopsis using a freezing tolerance assay. They found that dysfunction of OSTI in ost1 mutants compromised the freezing tolerance of Arabidopsis plants. The ost1 mutations also impaired the cold induction of CBF expression, sug-gesting that OST1-mediated cold tolerance is CBF- dependent. The conclusion was further supported by the enhanced freezing tolerance and increased cold-induced expression of CBFs in OST1-overexpression plants.
Ding et al. found that OST1 interacted with ICE1 both in vitro (using yeast two hybrid and protein pull down assays) and in vivo (using co-immunoprecipitation and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays). ICE1 could be phosphorylated by OST1. They showed that the kinase ac-tivity of OST1 was rapidly activated by cold stress. Ser-ine-278 of ICE1 was identified as a major site of phosphor-ylation by OST1. The defect in freezing tolerance of ice1 mutant plants could be rescued by wild type ICE1 but not mutated form of ICE1 (ICE1S278A). Compared to unphos-
318 Lang ZB, et al. Sci China Life Sci March (2015) Vol.58 No.3
Figure 1 (color online) Model showing that cold-activated OST1 phos-phorylates and stabilizes ICE1, which in turn binds to the cis-elements on CBF gene promoters and activates the expression of CBFs and downstream cold responsive (COR) genes, leading to enhanced freezing tolerance.
phorylated ICE1, the OST1-phosphorylated ICE1 has an enhanced binding affinity to the CBF3 promoter in vitro. OST1 was shown to facilitate ICE1 transcriptional activity using a transient transactivation assay with the proCBF3:: GUS as a reporter. These results suggested that phosphory-lation of ICE1 at S278 by OST1 is critical for ICE1 function in plant cold responses.
The authors also found that OST1 functions in stabilizing ICE1 protein under cold conditions. Overexpression of OST1 inhibited cold-induced degradation of ICE1, and dys-function of OST1 in ost1 mutant plants caused faster ICE1 degradation in response to cold. Overexpression of OST1 was also shown to reduce cold-induced ubiquitination of ICE1, which was mediated by HOS1. ICE1S278D that mimics phosphorylation at S278 failed to bind to HOS1. All these results suggest that OST1-mediated phosphorylation of ICE1 enhances ICE1 stability by reducing ubiquitination of
ICE1 under cold conditions. Interestingly, Ding et al. found that OST1 can physically interact with HOS1, and can in-terfere with the interaction between HOS1 and ICE1. Therefore, it appears that OST1 enhances ICE1 stability by both phosphorylation and physically competing with bind-ing to HOS1. It would be interesting to test whether the ki-nase-dead mutant form of OST1 can still enhance ICE1 stability in plants.
OST1 is also known as SnRK2.6 (SNF1-related kinase 2.6), which is a well-known kinase in ABA signaling main-ly in guard cells. Under water stress conditions, ABA ac-cumulates and binds to receptors causing their conforma-tional change. The activated ABA receptors then interact with and inhibit PP2C protein phosphatases, thus relieving OST1 from inhibition by the PP2Cs. How OST1 is activated by ABA is well understood. Is ABA involved in cold stress activation of OST1? Ding et al. showed that deficiency in ABA production in aba2-21 mutant plants did not compro-mise cold-induced activation of OST1. In addition, OST1 was activated after 0.51.5 h of cold treatment, which oc-curred before any cold stress induced ABA accumulation. These results indicated that ABA plays little if any role in cold-induced activation of OST1. It would be exciting to understand how OST1 is activated by cold stress.
In summary, Ding et al. reported the first protein kinase involved in cold signaling that directly phosphorylates ICE1. Their work makes an important contribution to our under-standing of cold stress signaling and cold tolerance in plants.
1 Zhu J, Dong CH, Zhu JK. Interplay between cold-responsive gene regulation, metabolism and RNA processing during plant cold accli-mation. Curr Opin Plant Biol, 2007, 10: 290–295
2 Dong CH, Agarwal M, Zhang Y, Xie Q and Zhu JK. The negative regulator of plant cold responses, HOS1, is a RING E3 ligase that mediates the ubiquitination and degradation of ICE1. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2006, 103: 8281–8286
3 Miura K, Jin JB, Lee J, Yoo CY, Stirm V, Miura T, Ashworth EN, Bressan RA, Yun DJ, Hasegawa PM. SIZ1-mediated sumoylation of ICE1 controls CBF3/DREB1A expression and freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 2007, 19: 1403–1414
4 Chinnusamy V, Zhu J and Zhu JK. Cold stress regulation of gene ex-pression in plants. Trends Plant Sci, 2007, 12: 444–451
5 Ding Y, Li H, Zhang X, Xie Q, Gong Z, Yang S. OST1 kinase mod-ulates freezing tolerance by enhancing ICE1 stability in Arabidopsis. Dev Cell, 2015, 32: 278–289
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Developmental Cell
Previews
Increasing Freezing Tolerance:Kinase Regulation of ICE1
Xiangqiang Zhan,1 Jian-Kang Zhu,1,2 and Zhaobo Lang1,*1Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032,China2Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA*Correspondence: [email protected]://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2015.01.004
Cold temperatures trigger the ICE1-CBF-COR transcriptional cascade in plants, which reprograms geneexpression to increase freezing tolerance. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Ding et al. (2015) report thatcold stress activates the protein kinase OST1 to phosphorylate and thereby stabilize and stimulate ICE1.This enhances plant tolerance to freezing temperatures.
In response to chilling temperatures,
plants in temperate regions can increase
their tolerance to subsequent freezing
temperatures by a process known as
cold acclimation. Chilling-induced re-
programming of gene expression is
important for cold acclimation (Thoma-
show, 1999; Chinnusamy et al., 2007).
Many of the cold-responsive (COR) genes
have the CCGAC cis-element, known as
the C-repeat or DRE, in their promoters.
The CBFs (C-repeat-binding factors),
also known as DREBs, can bind to this
cis-element and activate the expression
of COR genes (Thomashow, 1999). The
three CBF genes (CBF1, CBF2, and
CBF3) are themselves induced by cold
stress, and this induction precedes that
of the COR genes.
The basic-helix-loop-helix type tran-
scription factor ICE1 binds to the CBF3
promoter and regulatesCBF3 expression,
while calmodulin-binding transcription
activators (CAMTAs) bind to the CBF2
promoter and activate CBF2 expression
in response to cold stress (Chinnusamy
et al., 2003; Doherty et al., 2009). Unlike
the CBFs, ICE1 and CAMTAs are ex-
pressed at warm temperatures, and the
expression is not regulated by cold.
Overexpression of ICE1 does not lead to
CBF expression at warm temperatures
but can enhance the cold induction of
CBFs. Researchers have hypothesized
that cold stress triggers a posttransla-
tional modification of ICE1 that enables it
to activate the CBF regulon (Chinnusamy
et al., 2003). Protein phosphorylation is
known to be critical for many cellular
signaling pathways, and pharmacological
studies indeed suggest that protein phos-
phorylation is important for cold-respon-
sive gene regulation in plants (Chinnus-
amy et al., 2007). Therefore, it seems
reasonable to predict that one or more
protein kinases may phosphorylate ICE1
and that such phosphorylation may help
ICE1 activate CBF expression.
In this issue ofDevelopmental Cell, Ding
et al. (2015) report that they have found
such a protein kinase. The authors
screened protein kinase mutants of
Arabidopsis using a freezing tolerance
assay and found that loss-of-function
mutations in the protein kinase OST1
(open stomata 1), also known as
SnRK2.6, reduced plant freezing toler-
ance. The decreased freezing tolerance
was correlated with reduced cold induc-
tion of the CBF regulon. Overexpression
of OST1 led to stronger cold induction of
the CBF regulon and to increased freezing
tolerance. Ding et al. found that OST1
physically interacts with ICE1. Impor-
tantly, they discovered that the protein
kinase activity of OST1 was quickly
induced by cold stress. In vitro, ICE1
could be phosphorylated by OST1 at
Ser-278. In vivo, ICE1 also appeared
to be phosphorylated by OST1 under
cold treatment. The wild-type but not
the S278A mutated form of ICE1 could
restore the freezing tolerance of ice1-2
mutant plants, indicating that phospho-
rylation at S278 is important for ICE1
function in planta. Phosphorylation by
OST1 appeared to increase the function
of ICE1 in activating the transcription of
CBF3 under cold stress.
The authors showed that OST1 also in-
teracts with HOS1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase
that interacts with and targets ICE1 for
Developmental Cell 32
degradation under cold stress (Dong
et al., 2006). OST1 competes with ICE1
for interaction with HOS1. In addition,
OST1 phosphorylation of ICE1 inhibits
the interaction between ICE1 and HOS1,
and the S278D mutated form of ICE1 fails
to interact with HOS1. Consequently,
OST1 seems to be important for ICE1 pro-
tein stability under cold stress.
The discovery of OST1 as a major pro-
tein kinase activated by cold stress is sur-
prising. OST1 is a well-known protein
kinase in the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling
pathway. Under drought or salt stress,
plants generate large amounts of the
stress hormone ABA. ABA binds to the
PYL family of receptors, changing
the conformation of the receptors such
that they can then interact and inhibit
2C-type protein phosphatases like ABI1
(abscisic acid insensitive 1) (Gonzalez-
Guzman et al., 2012). This action releases
OST1 from interaction with and inhibition
by ABI1. The released OST1 is then active
and can phosphorylate dozens of proteins
including ion channels that help close the
stomata to reduce transpirational water
loss (Wang et al., 2013). Therefore, OST1
activation by ABA is well understood.
But how does cold stress activate
OST1? One obvious possibility is that
cold stress triggers the accumulation
of ABA, which in turn activates OST1.
Consistent with this possibility, Ding
et al. found that ABI1 inhibits not only
ABA signaling but also cold stress activa-
tion of OST1. The authors also showed,
however, that ABA content did not in-
crease in plants at 0.5 and 1.0 hr after
cold treatment when OST1was activated,
although there is literature reporting that
, February 9, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. 257
Figure 1. Comparison of Cold Stress andABA Signaling PathwaysIn the core ABA signaling pathway (left), ABA isperceived by the PYL family of receptor proteins,which then inhibit the PP2C ABI1, leading toOST1 activation. ABA-activated OST1 phosphory-lates ion channels and other proteins, resulting instomatal closure and other ABA responses. Incold stress signaling (right), the cold stress signalis perceived by an unknown sensor protein(marked by ?), which then directly or indirectly in-hibits ABI1, also leading to OST1 activation.Cold-activated OST1 phosphorylates ICE1, whichcauses ICE1 to activate the CBF regulon, resultingin enhanced freezing tolerance.
Developmental Cell
Previews
ABA accumulates at later time points.
Therefore, cold stress seems to utilize an
ABA-independent mechanism to activate
OST1 and inhibit ABI1 (Figure 1). Cold
258 Developmental Cell 32, February 9, 2015
temperatures may alter the conformation
of a sensor protein that directly or indi-
rectly inactivates ABI1 to activate
OST1. The sensor protein could even
be one or more of the PYL proteins, or
even ABI1 itself. Structural studies sug-
gest that ABA-independent functions
are possible for some of the PYL proteins
(Hao et al., 2011). It would be interesting
to test how pyl mutant plants respond
to cold stress. For example, a sextuple
mutant defective in six PYL ABA re-
ceptors is extremely insensitive to ABA
(Gonzalez-Guzman et al., 2012). Is
OST1 activation affected in this and
other high-order pyl mutants?
The discovery by Ding et al. of a cold-
stress-activatedproteinkinase thatphos-
phorylates ICE1 and controls the CBF
regulon is an important advancement in
our understandingof cold stresssignaling
in plants. The research raises interesting
questions regarding possible cold stress
sensors and how cold sensing leads to
the activation of OST1. Additionally, how
do we explain that, although cold acti-
vates OST1, the physiological responses
to cold stress are largely different from
those of ABA (Figure 1)? Clearly, factors
besides OST1 are also important. In this
regard, it would be especially helpful
to place the findings of Ding et al. in
the context of previous work showing
that a mitogen-activated protein kinase
pathway and a calcium/calmodulin-
dependent protein kinase regulate the
ª2015 Elsevier Inc.
CBF regulon and freezing tolerance (Teige
et al., 2004; Yang et al., 2010).
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